New Jersey Walk of Fame Unveiled at NJPAC on May 18th

New Jersey Walk of Fame Unveiled at NJPAC on May 18th

Project Commissioned as Part of NJ TRANSIT's Public Arts Program, in Conjunction With Community Partners

NEWARK, N.J., May 19 /PRNewswire/ -- A Walk of Fame honoring the lives and achievements of extraordinary performing artists who are associated with the Garden State and/or its institutions was unveiled at a public ceremony on Thursday, May 18th at 5pm on the Symphony Lawn in front of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), adjacent to the new NJ TRANSIT light rail station.

Thus far, those scheduled to take part in the ceremony are Secretary of State Nina Mitchell Wells, Carol Herbert, Chair of the New Jersey State Council of the Arts, representatives of the Women's Association of NJPAC and several of the Walk of Fame honorees or their representatives -- Savion Glover, the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Maestro Neeme Jarvi, Broadway's Ben Vereen, Queen Latifah's mother, Rita Owens, and Omer Padillo representing the Estate of Celia Cruz.

Thirty artists from an original list of over 125 candidates were selected to be represented in the inaugural installation of the New Jersey Walk of Fame. They are: Bud Abbott & Lou Costello, Tony Bennett, Celia Cruz, Danny DeVito, Savion Glover, Celeste Holm, Whitney Houston, New Jersey Symphony Orchestra Maestro Neeme Jarvi, Ernie Kovacs, Nathan Lane, Queen Latifah, Jerry Lewis, Eddie Murphy, Jack Nicholson, Susan Sarandon, Frank Sinatra, Bruce Springsteen, Meryl Streep, John Travolta, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Sarah Vaughan, Ben Vereen, Frederica Von Stade, and Dionne Warwick. A special plaque dedicated to major artists with longstanding affiliation with NJPAC will include Kathleen Battle, Judith Jamison, Yo-Yo Ma, Wynton Marsalis and Itzhak Perlman.

The Walk of Fame Selection Committee included representatives from NJ TRANSIT, the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, Newark Historical Society, Newark Library, Newark Arts Council, The Newark Museum, The City of Newark, NJPAC, New Jersey Network, The New Jersey Symphony Orchestra, The Prudential Foundation, WBGO-FM, and Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas.

The New Jersey Walk of Fame was commissioned by NJ TRANSIT with assistance from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, URS Corporation, Parsons Brinckerhoff Quade & Douglas, Inc. and the Women's Association of NJPAC. Funding made possible by the Federal Transit Administration. "New Jersey Walk of Fame" Bronze, (C) 2005. Sculptors: Gregg LeFevre & Jennifer Andrews. Assisted by Jose Marti & Bill Mutter.

Source: New Jersey Performing Arts Center

CONTACT: Shelley Roberts, +1-973-297-5834, sroberts@njapc.org, or
Jeffrey Norman, +1-973-297-5838, jnorman@njpac.org, both of New Jersey
Performing Arts Center

Web site: http://www.njpac.org/

NOTE TO EDITORS: FOR PRESS INQUIRIES AND HIGH RES DIGITAL IMAGES: Shelley Roberts, 973-297-5834, sroberts@njapc.org, Jeffrey Norman, 973-297-5838, jnorman@njpac.org

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